Increasingly, stores, malls, amusement parks, tourist areas, sporting arenas are becoming very large and geographically dispersed. The small mom and pop stores are dying breeds. This is especially true with the advent of Walmart and the desire of enterprises to compete on the same scale as Walmart. Consequently, most stores sell a huge variety of goods and services to customers and want customers to come to those stores for all their purchasing needs.
One issue with this “large is better” mentality is that often the consumer is overwhelmed and literally lost once inside a particular facility. Generally, staff is supposed to be around to assist the consumer with questions and provide guidance. However, in an effort to reduce cost many stores are grossly understaffed and in rough times positions such as these are usually the first to go. So, more often than not customers wonder the aisles looking for what they came for, sometimes it benefits the store because the customer buys some things that they did not intend to buy. But, sometimes it harms the store because consumers become frustrated or angry and leave without making any purchase and opt to go somewhere else that is not quite so large to make their purchase.